War of the Triple Alliance

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    The War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870) was fought between Paraguay and an alliance of Argentina, Uruguay and the Empire of Brazil. It was a conflict with more deaths than any other in the history of Latin America, with estimates of 90,000-100,000 deaths on the alliance and circa 300,000 Paraguayans, both soldiers and civilians.There are a lot of speculations of the war’s motives, including British economic interests in the region, after-colonialism effects and expansionist goals of Paraguay’s dictator Francisco Solano López.

    Brazil was getting too involved in Uruguay’s internal politics and eventually invaded it, making Paraguay declare war on Brazil. When López tried to pass through the province of Corrientes, Argentina declared war on Paraguay and the three countries forged an alliance to fight López’s regime. This turned the tide of the war; Paraguay's army, despite having some victories against Brazil in the beginning, devolved into guerrilla warfare in its own territory. The war only ended with López’s death.

    The war ended catastrophically for Paraguay, having lost almost 90% of the male population, territory and had a political vacuum filled by military governments (Paraguay had its first democratic elections in 1993, more than a century later). Brazil and Argentina had an increase of public debt that took decades to pay, but it brought Brazilians slaves’ freedom (they were freed to fight in the war). Uruguay, on the other hand, was finally free of its neighbors’ meddling (kind of), but still had its own internal problems.

    The War of the Triple Alliance provides examples of the following tropes:
    • The Alliance: Or rather, The Triple Alliance.
    • Alternate Character Interpretation: Francisco Solano López. Fearless leader against more powerful nations backed by imperialism or madman bent on conquering without thinking of his people?
    • Apocalypse How: Class 1 for Paraguay. It lost almost 50% of the population and 90% of the male population.
    • Broken Base: Regarding Francisco Solano. Not only in Paraguay, but in the other countries too.
    • The Captain: President of Argentina Bartolomé Mitre. Supreme Commander of the Allied troops, actually.
    • Child Soldiers: Sadly, not only children but old people too were dragged into the Paraguayan army at the end of the war.
    • Enemy Mine: Argentina and Brazil were very antagonizing to each other, but they decided to forge an alliance to fight their common enemy.
    • Fielding Old Men and Boys: Paraguay. So bad there were barely any men left after the war.
    • Gray and Gray Morality: Like most wars.
    • The Greatest History Never Told
    • I Ate What?: At one point, the Paraguayans had to eat their horses to survive.
    • It Got Worse: For Paraguay, definitely.
    • Only You Can Repopulate My Race: After the war male Paraguayans were in high demand. The Catholic Church in Paraguay even allowed men to take multiple wives to rebuild the population.
    • The Woobie: If you know something about the region’s history, you’d know Uruguay had been bullied by its neighbors all the time. In this war, it was almost a puppet state for Brazil.

    Depictions in fiction

    • Brazilian soap opera Nos Tempos do Imperador(In the Times of the Emperor) is primarily about the war, with Solano López serving as Big Bad and Emperor Dom Pedro II as the Big Good.

    Depictions in other media

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